Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Reveal Technology, Inc. Receives $3.2M Award With U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL)   •   ComPsych Corporation Announces 2023 Health at Work Award Winners   •   /R E M I N D E R -- Travelling for Easter? The Canada Border Services Agency gives tips for a smooth trip/   •   Green Boom Expands Product Line to The Home Depot   •   Tractor Supply Opens Applications for Second Annual Open Buying Days Event   •   Morningstar Publishes Fourth Annual Corporate Sustainability Report   •   Yamaha Motor Signs Technical Partnership with Lola Cars for Development and Supply of Powertrains for Formula E   •   BMO Recognized for Gender Equity by Report on Business' Women Lead Here List 2024   •   Boston Children’s Hospital and NRG Energy celebrate $1 million milestone, thanks to the Choose to Give program   •   Guaranteed Rate Welcomes New Atlanta Branch Manager, Carlos Mata   •   ElementalTV and Spanglish Movies Partner to Accelerate US Hispanic Market Activations in CTV Advertising: 'Spanglish Audiences'   •   Leading In-Home Care Franchise Looks to Expand in La Crosse   •   Jack Link’s® Unveils a Sweet Collaboration with Dr Pepper® That Brings Two Classic Tastes Together   •   From Tee to Triumph: Teen Entrepreneur and Golf Sensation Hosts First Annual Autism Awareness Golf Tournament   •   In 23rd Annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign, NSVRC Calls for Building Connected Communities to Prevent Sexual Violenc   •   Modern Health & Naomi Osaka’s Hana Kuma Launch Mental Health Focused Video Podcast Series “Can’t Wait To H   •   Black & Veatch Distributed Infrastructure Business Awarded Highest OSHA Star Recognition   •   Join Us as We Stand Together and March Against Hate in Dallas, Texas   •   Yiwugo Embraces Surge in Demand for Chinese Trendy Products: Hanfu & Handcrafted Beads in Vogue   •   Lutheran Senior Services and Diakon Enter Into Senior Living Agreement
Bookmark and Share

Vitamin D Levels Low In Blacks With MS

ST. PAUL, Minn. – African-Americans who have multiple sclerosis (MS) have lower vitamin D levels than African-Americans who don’t have the disease, according to a study published in the May 24, 2011, print issue ofNeurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

However, most of the difference in vitamin D levels was due to differences in climate and geography.

“MS is not as common in African-Americans as it is in whites, although the disease tends to be more severe in African-Americans,” said study author Ari J. Green, MD, of the University of California San Francisco and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “We have known that vitamin D levels are associated with MS and that African-Americans are at increased risk for having low vitamin D levels, but little research has been done to look at vitamin D levels in African-Americans with MS.”

Melanin, which determines the level of pigment in the skin, acts as a filter of UV light, which limits the amount of vitamin D that can be produced by the body in response to sunlight.

The study involved 339 people with MS and 342 people who did not have the disease. Researchers looked at vitamin D levels in the blood, the severity of the disease, the amount of UV exposure for participants based on where they lived and the proportion of European genetic ancestry participants had.

A total of 77 percent of the people with MS were vitamin D deficient, compared to 71 percent of those without the disease. The people with MS were exposed to a lower monthly UV index (average of 3.8) than those without the disease (average of 4.8).

They also lived an average of about one degree of latitude farther north than those without the disease. The link between low vitamin D levels and MS was weaker, but still present after adjusting for the differences in UV exposure and geography.

People with a higher proportion of European ancestry in their genes were less likely to have low vitamin D levels than people with a lower proportion of European ancestry, but European ancestry was not associated with MS.

There was no association between vitamin D levels and how severe the disease was.

People should talk to their physicians about blood testing for vitamin D levels, whether they should take supplements and how much UV exposure they should get, Green said. “These findings may provide a mechanism to help explain how genes and the environment interact to produce MS,” he said.

 

 


STORY TAGS: MS , Multiple Sclerosis , Witamin D , Black News, African American News, Minority News, Civil Rights News, Discrimination, Racism, Racial Equality, Bias, Equality, Afro American News

Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News